Wireless networks 100 are becoming increasingly important worldwide. Wireless networks 100 are rapidly replacing conventional wire-based telecommunications systems in many applications. Cellular radio telephone networks (“CRT”), and specialized mobile radio and mobile data radio networks are examples. The general principles of wireless cellular telephony have been described variously, for example in U.S. Pat. No. 5,295,180 to Vendetti, et al., which is incorporated herein by reference. There is great interest in using existing infrastructures of wireless networks 100 for locating people and/or objects in a cost effective manner. Such a capability would be invaluable in a variety of situations, especially in emergency or crime situations. Due to the substantial benefits of such a location system, several attempts have been made to design and implement such a system. Systems have been proposed that rely upon signal strength and triangulation techniques to permit location include those disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,818,998 and 4,908,629 to Apsell et al. (“the Apsell patents”) and U.S. Pat. No. 4,891,650 to Sheffer (“the Sheffer patent”). However, these systems have drawbacks that include high expense in that special purpose electronics are required.
Furthermore, the systems are generally only effective in line-of-sight conditions, such as rural settings. Radio wave multipath, refractions and ground clutter cause significant problems in determining the location of a signal source in most geographical areas that are more than sparsely populated. Moreover, these drawbacks are particularly exacerbated in dense urban canyon (city) areas, where errors and/or conflicts in location measurements can result in substantial inaccuracies.
Another example of a location system using time difference of arrival (TDOA) and triangulation for location are satellite-based systems, such as the military and commercial versions of the global positioning satellite system (GPS). GPS can provide accurate position from a time-based signal received simultaneously from at least three satellites. A ground-based GPS receiver at or near the object to be located determines the difference between the time at which each satellite transmits a time signal and the time at which the signal is received and, based on the time differentials, determines the object's location. However, the GPS is impractical in many applications. The signal power levels from the satellites are low and the GPS receiver requires a clear, line-of-sight path to at least three satellites above a horizon greater than about 60 degrees for effective operation. Accordingly, inclement weather conditions, such as clouds, terrain features, such as hills and trees, and buildings restrict the ability of the GPS receiver to determine its position. Furthermore, the initial GPS signal detection process for a GPS receiver can be relatively long (i.e., several minutes) for determining the receiver's position. Such delays are unacceptable in many applications such as, for example, emergency response and vehicle tracking. Additionally there exists no one place that this location information is stored such that a plurality of wireless devices 104 could be located on a geographic basis.